Girls' Night Out
by xoxo Cherie
Summary: When Annabeth agreed to have a girls' night out with Rachel, this was definitely not what she had expected. Friendship fic. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians._**

* * *

When Annabeth accepted Rachel's invitation for a girls' night out, she had initially thought that they would catch one of those indie films Rachel liked or maybe see the new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. So, once she had arrived at Rachel's apartment, Annabeth was _slightly_ (totally) caught off guard when Rachel forced her into the tiny stool at her vanity, wielding brushes and lip gloss, and gods knew what other cosmetics that Annabeth had never seen before.

"What is _that?_" She pointed to one of the many tools sitting on the vanity.

"This? It's an eyelash curler." Rachel said, picking it up.

A look of alarm spread over Annabeth's face. "People curl their _eyelashes_ with that thing?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend's obvious discomfort. "Gods, Annabeth, you've been in college for three years. Don't you think you should know about this stuff?"

Well, when you're forced to save the world as a teenager, _twice_, Annabeth thought, worrying about how to apply makeup and other normal undertakings kinda lost their novelty.

While Annabeth was lost in thought, Rachel had begun the task at hand. She picked up a bottle of foundation, contemplating the color before pumping a bit of product onto the back of her hand. Annabeth jumped when she felt a brush touch her face.

"What are you doing?"

Rachel ignored her, buffing foundation onto her face. "Hmm, you're a little tanner than I am, but I guess I can fix that with some bronzer."

"Rachel, what are you doing?" she repeated.

Rachel took the brush from her face and let out a sigh, "Annabeth, I said we were going to have a girls' night. And that also means we're gonna doll you up and if I have to strap you down into this chair to get it done, then I will." She gave Annabeth a hard look before it morphed into puppy dog eyes. "_Please_?"

Taking a last look at Rachel's hopeful face, a defeated expression settled on Annabeth's features. "Fine."

"Yes!" The pleading look was gone and a grin took its place. "Don't worry. You are going to look amazing!"

Rachel had been working in silence for a few minutes before Annabeth spoke up again. "I thought you weren't into all this girly stuff." She kept her eyes closed so Rachel could apply primer to her eyelids.

"I'm an _artist_. I express myself in all forms of art," Rachel said, a mock snobbish tone in her voice. "And that includes makeup. Just think of your face as my blank canvas."

"Yeah, that's _really_ reassuring," Annabeth said dryly.

For the first time since she arrived at Rachel's apartment, she noticed that Rachel had done her makeup too. Her eyelids were colored with shimmery gold and bronze, reminding Annabeth of one of the time they met before descending into the Labyrinth. It brought out the gold in Rachel's green eyes and the coppery hews of her hair.

"Trust me," Rachel picked up a smaller brush and a palette of eye shadows, "I know what I'm doing."

While Rachel went to work on Annabeth's eyes, another question came to mind.

"So, exactly what are we doing tonight that requires us to get all 'dolled up?'" Annabeth opened the eye Rachel wasn't working on and watched her focused ones.

Without breaking concentration, Rachel replied, "We're going clubbing."

This time, both of Annabeth's eyes shot open. "_What?_"

"Close your eyes!" Rachel admonished. "And you heard me. We're going clubbing."

Annabeth's eyes remained wide open. She gaped at the redhead before finally settling on a word. "_Why?_"

"Because," Rachel started, "I thought it'd be fun. And besides, we live in Manhattan. It's like Party City here and we've never gone out to drink and dance before. Now, _close your eyes!_"

This time, Annabeth obeyed, and Rachel went on shading her eyelids. "Why can't you just go with your college friends?"

"It's not as fun since they don't know about my part-time job as an all-seeing oracle." Rachel appraised her work with a critical eye. "And speaking of which I had a vision earlier today."

This got Annabeth's attention. "Really? What did you see?"

"Two _totally_ hot guys are gonna hit on us, tonight." Even though her eyes were closed, Annabeth could hear the smile in Rachel's voice.

If she had been able to, Annabeth would've rolled her eyes. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I have a boyfriend and you're supposed to be a chaste and virginal oracle."

She heard Rachel scoff, "The job description said I had to stay a virgin. It said nothing shamelessly flirting and going out to clubs."

"Who would've guessed that the celibate Oracle of Delphi would attempt to corrupt me tonight."

"Oh, lighten up, Annabeth. It'll be fun. I promise," Rachel said while lining her eyes.

Annabeth breathed out a heavy sigh. "It's not like I have much choice."

"That's the spirit!"

When Rachel gave her permission to open her eyes, Annabeth could see a large smile on her face. What had she gotten herself into? Rachel continued to apply Annabeth's makeup in silence until she was done.

"Ta da!" She swiveled Annabeth around on the stool so she was facing the mirror.

Annabeth's eyes widened for what seemed like the umpteenth time that evening. Her eyelids were colored similarly to Rachel's, except, instead of gold and bronze, smoky silver and gray covered her eyelids, emphasizing the silver of her irises. Her eyelashes were dark and thick (and impeccably curled thanks to the eyelash curler Rachel had convinced Annabeth to let her use). Somehow, Rachel made her skin look completely smooth and her cheekbones looked higher then before. This was definitely the most makeup she'd worn in her entire life. Not even for her prom had she worn this much. But she had to admit she looked good. _Really_ good.

"Whoa."

It was like Rachel had drawn on a new face.

"I told you I knew what I was doing."

She could see Rachel's reflection grinning at her. While Annabeth continued to check herself out, turning her head from side to side, Rachel walked over to her closet.

"Now, about your clothes..."

Annabeth tore her gaze from the mirror looked at Rachel.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Annabeth stared down at her jeans and sweater.

Rachel turned to face her again, her closet behind her back. "If you want to get free drinks tonight, you're gonna have to show some more skin than _that_."

* * *

Annabeth tugged at the miniskirt Rachel had forced her into. There was absolutely no comfortable way to sit in said skirt without accidentally flashing someone, so Annabeth rigidly crossed her legs on the bar stool she was perched on while she aimlessly tried to cover her exposed legs.

"Would you stop fidgeting? You're gonna fall out of your seat." Rachel finished the fruity drink she had ordered, then shifted her body so she was facing Annabeth.

"People are staring at me," Annabeth hissed.

"_Guys_ are staring at you because you look hot."

Annabeth flushed at Rachel's comment. "I have a boyfriend."

"You think those guys checking you out know that?" As an afterthought, Rachel added, "Or care?"

Before Annabeth could answer, two of the guys that had been blatantly staring at the pair sauntered up to them.

The one on the right, the shorter of the two, spoke first. "Can we buy you ladies a drink?"

She was about to decline, but Rachel spoke up before she could. "Sure."

Annabeth shot her a look, but Rachel either ignored her or didn't notice. The two men were both brunettes. From what Annabeth could tell, they were young, muscular and tan. She supposed they were attractive, but in an artificial, magazine advertisement kind of way, and it was clear that they thought they were good-looking too. She could feel the arrogance radiating from them.

After ordering two martinis, the guy on the right spoke next.

"My name's Jack, and this is Dex," he said, gesturing to his friend. "We're from Jersey, but we came out to New York for the night." He flashed them a smile. "I don't think you gave us your names."

"I'm Rachel and this is Annabeth. We go to school in the city," Rachel said, speaking for the two of them again. She took a sip of her martini. "So, what do you guys do?"

The one named Dex spoke again. "I'm an architect, and Jack is a photographer."

This caught Annabeth's attention. "You're an architect?" she asked. Dex smiled at her sudden interest, showing his too-white teeth.

"Yup."

She could felt a twinge of relief. Now, she wouldn't be forced to awkwardly make small talk.

"Do you have a favorite building or structure?" she asked, waiting eagerly for a response. Usually when she talked about architecture with her friends they would slowly tune her out.

"Uh, definitely the Empire State Building, but I guess I'm a little biased. It's just so... tall."

His answer disappointed Annabeth slightly. Sure the Empire State Building was great, but there were so many other amazing architectural feats in the world. But, everyone was entitled to their opinion, she supposed. She turned her head and saw that Rachel and Jack had started their own conversation.

"I don't think I have one favorite building or structure," Annabeth said, turning back to Dex, "but if I had to choose one in the city, my favorite building is definitely the Guggenheim. I mean, the building itself is a piece of art! Personally, I think that's my favorite Guggenheim. Maybe I'm being a little biased too because the Peggy Guggenheim building in Venice is gorgeous and classic, and it's on water! The one in Bilbao is absolutely spectacular too. The curves and arches are amazing and I love how modern and contemporary the design is compared to the eighteenth century architecture of the one in Venice, but that huge spider statue by it's entrance really creeps me out."

Annabeth shuddered at the thought of the wire-y sculpture. She realized that her rambling had left her throat dry, so she brought the martini glass to her mouth.

A confused look crossed Dex's tanned face. "Uh, yeah. Could you repeat that? The Guggen-what?"

She paused, the glass still on her lips. This guy called himself an architect and didn't know what the Guggenheim Museums were?

Putting her glass down on the bar, Annabeth got Rachel's attention. "Rachel? Didn't you say you wanted to go to the bathroom earlier?" she lied.

An equally unimpressed expression was set on Rachel's face. "Yeah I did." The girls got down from their respective stools. "Excuse us," Rachel said before heading towards the bathrooms with Annabeth in tow.

* * *

"That guy was definitely _not_ an architect, " Annabeth huffed.

They had retreated to the bathroom and Rachel was combing her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, same goes for his buddy," she smirked, catching Annabeth's eyes in the mirror. "What kind of photographer doesn't know the difference between back and three-point lighting?"

Annabeth sighed, leaning against a sink."This isn't as much fun as you said it was gonna be, Rachel."

Ever the optimist, Rachel smiled. "We just got here! There's still other things we can do."

Annabeth gave her a doubtful look. "What do we do if we get hit on again."

A mischievous grin played at Rachel's lips. "Simple," she started, taking off one of her rings and sliding it onto her left ring finger. She took off another one and moved towards Annabeth. "We'll just tell them that we're married," she said, slipping it onto Annabeth's finger.

A similar grin appeared on Annabeth's face. Athena always had a plan, right?

* * *

The rest of the night went without incident, and Annabeth might even say she had fun.

After exiting the bathroom, they made a dash for the dance floor so they could avoid running into Dex and Jack. They spent most of the night dancing, occasionally stopping for drinks, and, in the end, they only had to use their fake marriage excuse twice. The shocked looks on all four of the men's faces made Annabeth and Rachel crack up as soon as they were out of earshot.

When they made it back to Rachel's apartment, tipsy and giggling for no reason, it was well past two in the morning. The pair promptly collapsed into Rachel's humongous bed and fell asleep.

* * *

"Hey, Rachel?" Percy called as he walked into her apartment. In her drunken stupor the night before, she hadn't even locked the door. "You went out with Annabeth last night, right?"

Annabeth woke at the sound his voice. She could feel a pulsing in her head courtesy of the alcohol she had consumed. She looked next to her, expecting to see Rachel, but she was no where to be found.

Percy's voice continued to trail through the apartment. "I went to her dorm and she wasn't there and every time I try to call her it keeps going to-"

He had reached the bedroom door and his words died in his throat when he saw someone sitting up in Rachel's bed.

A blush crept its way up Percy's neck and onto his cheeks. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know Rachel had friends over."

He was about to turn and leave, when a voice stopped him. "Seaweed Brain, it's me!"

"Annabeth?" He walked back into the room and towards the bed. After brushing away some curls that had stuck to her face in her sleep, he finally met her makeup-smudged eyes. "I didn't even recognize you." She could hear the mirth ringing in his voice.

She was about to complain that he was talking too loudly for her sensitive ears, when she heard the front door open and close.

Rachel had gone out for coffee and when she came back into her bedroom, two to-go cups in hand (and to Annabeth's chagrin, completely void of smudged makeup), she met the stares of her two friends.

"Hey, Percy." Her voice was chipper and completely disguised the fact that she had gone clubbing the night before. She handed one of the coffee cups to Annabeth.

"Rachel, what did you do to my girlfriend?" he asked, his tone amused and slightly worried at the same time.

"We," she sat down on the bed next to Annabeth and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "went clubbing."

"You took Annabeth clubbing?" he repeated incredulously.

"Mhmm."

"And she went willingly?"

"Yup."

He turned his attention back to Annabeth. "Did she drug you?"

"Shut up! I did not drug your girlfriend."

He gave Annabeth a questioning look.

"I went clubbing," she admitted. She took a cautious sip of the hot coffee. "And I went willingly, and Rachel did not drug me."

"_And _we had fun!" Rachel cut in.

She looked at the exhausted blonde at her side. When Annabeth gave a hesitant nod, Rachel beamed and squeezed her in a tight hug.

Percy gave the two girls a dubious look, before shrugging. He was going to leave it at that, but Rachel perked up again.

"Oh! I haven't even told you the best part!" She grabbed Annabeth's left hand and raised it along with hers to show Percy. "We got married!"

The look on Percy's face was enough to make the girls crack up all over again.

* * *

**AN: This was a lot of fun to write. I see so many fanfics of Rachel and Annabeth fighting and having it in for each other, but I think these two would end up being really good friends. I love Rachel and Annabeth friendship fics, but there aren't nearly enough, so here is my contribution. The ending scene with Percy's cameo is definitely my favorite part.**

**I hope you liked it! Reviews are welcome and appreciated!**

**xoxo Cherie**


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